The South End Museum has struggled with parking space at the museum since they opened. They recently secured funding to have a parking area developed on the corner between the museum and the busy Beach Road / Walmer Boulevard intersection. The centre piece of the parking area is a granite "soccer ball" which was one of the legacy projects that was part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Greater Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus) on the saltpans at Swartkops near the old Swartkops Power Station and the Marina Saltworks.
In and around St Georges Park there are several old Wild Fig Trees that has bees been around for more than 100 years. This specific one in the park has a spectacular root system. I, for one, am glad that it doesn't stand next to my house.
One of the major eyesores and talking points along the Port Elizabeth beachfront is the Manganese ore terminal between Kings Beach and the Port Elizabeth Harbour. Not just does it look ugly, but the dust of the ore gets blown over the Humewood area when the wind blows from the north east. There are hopes that the ore terminal along with the tank farm next to it will be moved to the Coega Industrial Port. The manganese gets mined in…
A sunny day on Kings BeachAfter the kind of weather we have had this week there can be no doubt anymore that summer has slipped in the door and shoo'd winter away. Another one of the signs is that when I slip down to the beachfront during lunch time the beaches aren't all empty anymore.
There are several salt pans on the eastern side of Port Elizabeth around the Swartkops and Chatty Rivers. It is thought that during prehistoric times the sea pushed up to the these salt pans via the Swartkops and Chatty Rivers at high tide and left the seawater behind at low tide. This water evaporated and left behind salt crystals on the bottom of the pan. The local Khoisan inhabitants of this area used to gather the salt in these pans during the period 1799…
Driving along the highways and byways of this beautiful country of ours, somewhere you will have to pull over, stretch you legs and fill up body, soul and perhaps even your car (if you don't want to get stuck without fuel along those same roads). These places are normally one of the following three:Roadside picnic spots Farm and country shopsand the boring (as far as exploring travellers goes) but very effective and well stocked 1-stop service stations
The sprawling suburb of Walmer had it's origins as a farm that was later sub-divided. Initially called ‘Muller town’, it was renamed to Walmer after the Duke of Wellington, who died at Walmer Castle in Kent. Walmer used to be a separate town from Port Elizabeth and had its own municipality, but with the growth of PE Walmer got included in the Port Elizabeth Municipality on 1 January 1967. Walmer is generally referred to as the garden or leafy suburb with many beautiful parks,…